Our company began 12 years ago with Jenny and François’s dream to share their passion of a style of wines they fell in love with while living in France. That passion has spread gradually over the years with thanks in no small part to other importers like Joe Dressner, and today there are a whole host of natural wine lovers: customers, sommeliers, wine store owners, and an ever-growing list of importers, who love these wines as much as we do. With all the attention Natural Wines are getting in the media lately, we thought it would be fun to do a series where people talk about all the things they love about these wines.
In Part 1, we sat with Joe Campanale of Anfora. Today, for part 2, we have an interview with Levi Dalton, one of New York’s most beloved sommeliers. If you haven’t had the pleasure of being served by Levi, you’re really missing out. Not only is he incredibly knowledgable about the kind of wines we love, he is absolutely hysterically funny as well. We have fond memories of an impromptu holiday dinner the whole J&F team had when Levi was working at the now closed Alto. Levi was completely in his element. At one point I remember him pouring us champagne out of a double magnum, one-handed, without looking at the glass, cracking jokes at the same time, without spilling a drop. Actually I think he was pouring behind his back and also happened to be juggling some flaming torches with his free hand. These days you can catch Levi (if you’re lucky) at one of the many Daniel Boulud restaurants. We sat with him at Boulud Sud for this quick interview, in which Levi has some thoughts about natural wines, and winemakers, that made even us think about them in a way we hadn’t before. Check out what he had to say, and also don’t miss his hilarious blog, So You Want to be a Sommelier?